Ford, seeking BFFs, picks up bloggers' tabs

Ford invited 150 bloggers from 16 countries to the Detroit auto show to witness the unveiling of the 2013 Fusion. The bloggers, most of them specializing in nonautomotive subjects, cover a range of topics, including single parenting, computer technology and ecology.

DETROIT -- You wouldn't expect a run-of-the-mill auto review from a blog named sexliesandbacon.com. And Melysa Schmitt doesn't give you one. Her headline:

"Why I Want to make Sweet Sweet Love to You Inside the 2013 Ford Fusion." Schmitt's cheeky blog is geared to single moms and promises "humor & inspiration ... with a side of cleavage."

She was one of 150 "bloggers and influencers" -- up from 100 last year -- that Ford Motor Co. brought to the Detroit auto show this month in an effort to reach consumers by going beyond the traditional automotive media.

Ford, which paid for transportation, lodging and meals, says the effort helped the company dominate coverage in the blogosphere on the day the 2013 Fusion was unveiled.

"We were absolutely blown away by the enthusiasm and content from the bloggers we invited in," says Scott Monty, Ford manager of digital and media communications. "On the first day alone there were over 2,200 tweets about the show from our assembled guests, reaching over 7 million people online and commanding a 40 percent share of voice for Ford that day."

Ford brought in bloggers from such sites as averagejoesblog.com,dadlabs.com, thegarageblog.com, naturemoms.com, anotherworld.com, greenmamaspad.com, as well as thattechchick.com. And it may have paid off.

Visible Intelligence, an online tool that measures social media activity, says that in the last 30 days Ford topped all brands, and Fusion led all vehicles, in online posts related to the Detroit auto show.

Some of the bloggers disclosed in their poststhat Ford had paid their way. Some closely echoed Ford press releases in their posts or were as fawning as one might expect of a site labeled coolfords.com.

Sexliesandbacon.com used language not found in even the most glowing corporate press releases. Schmitt advised her readers: "Hold on to your panties, ladies, because the Ford Fusion Hybrid is going to give you 47 mpg in city driving and 44 mpg on the highway."

Others were less impressed. In a post headlined "Will I Ever Drive an American Car?" from the Detroit show, the kittenagogo.com blogger described herself as "a Honda girl" who "went to Detroit to spend some time with the folks from Ford."

She visited the Honda stand and reported: "They have a plugin too. And it is also really pretty. AND it's a Honda. So, Fusion, I like you. I think you are awesome. I don't know if we will ever date, but I think I could set you up with friends."

Rob Malda wrote on his technology blog, cmdrtaco.net, that he was not going to praise Ford just because the company paid his way to the Detroit show. "We weren't here to regurgitate press releases. There was ZERO requirements placed on us."

He added, "The real measure of success will be revealed in how Ford acts next year: Will they invite back someone who thinks the Fusion sucks?"

Malda wrote that he didn't have "a useful opinion" on the Fusion because his family needs either a minivan-sized vehicle or a smaller commuter car. But he gave Ford credit for its experiment: "150 people and 2 days is crazy ambitious."

He added: "They took a huge risk and at great expense they gave a lot of people access to places others wouldn't have," including the show on media days and Ford design facilities, he wrote, "and told us in no uncertain terms to write whatever we wanted."